I love you
by fictionalhearts
Summary: This is a story based on the Nalu oneshot I love you, Lucy. Natsu and Lucy takes a mission to escort a man to a meeting in Hargeon. The mission seems easy, but they soon discover that it's not. The man drives them crazy. When they're finally home something in Natsu's and Lucy's relationship has changed.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is based on my oneshot called I love you, Lucy. I wanted to make a longer version of the story, and this is the first chapter.**

* * *

It had started a couple of years ago. The strong bond between the Dragonslayer and the Celestial Sprit Mage. Unbreakable bonds. No matter what happened they where always there for each other.

It had been like that since the first day they met. Lucy had been in the Magic Shop in Hargeon discussing the prize of a celestial Spirit Key with the shop owner and was disappointed when he didn't lower the prize more than he did. She left the shop and was almost compelled by a charm spell by a man that called himself "Salamander". Natsu had barged into the crowd together with Happy looking for Igneel and when they interrupted "Salamander" the spell was broken and Lucy could think clearly again.

She treated them on a meal and they embarrased her with the way they thanked her. They parted but Natsu saved her again from the fake "Salamander" later that night when he lured her onboard his ship. Natsu revealed that he was the real Salamander and when he and Lucy escaped the ship and the mess they made he asked her to join Fairy Tail, a magic guild in Magnolia. She accepted and became a part of his team.

They quickly became very close friends. Natsu believed in her, even when she didn't believe in herself, and he always protected her. She trusted him with her ife. She actually jumped out of a window that time when Phantom Lord kidnapped her because she new Natsu would catch her. She had complete faith in him. He was very lojal and he cared deeply for the people close to him. But, he could also really get on her nerves. He was reckless and childish, always looking for a way to prove his strenght and he and Gray were bickering on a daily basis. And he had the annoying habit of getting into her apartment without her knowing it. She had barely moved into her apartment the first time she found him and Happy there.

Now, Natsu was standing by the mission board with Happy hovering above his shoulder looking at the requests.

"Good morning, Lucy," Mira said when Lucy entered the guild hall. "Do you want breakfast or have you eaten already?"

"I've already had breakfast, thank you," Lucy said and sat down by the bar.

Natsu turned around at the sound of her voice.

"Lucy! I've found a mission for us!"

He gave her a big smile and she hoped her cheeks didn't blush. That smile…. She took a breath and walked up next to him. She took the request from his hand.

"What is it?" she asked and started reading it.

"It's really easy. All we have to do is escort this guy to a meeting in Hargeon. But look at the money! You're gonna be able to pay your rent several months in advande!"

"There's got to be a catch," Lucy thought. The mission seemed to be way too easy for that kind of money. But she needed it, and if a guy was willing to pay this much for a mission like this, well that was up to him.

"We'll take it," she said and handed the request back to Natsu.

"Great, I'll tell Mira," Natsu said and headed in Mira's direction. On the way there he bumped into Gray and they immediately started bickering. It quickly escalated into a fight and Lucy sighed. Typical.

"Natsu, if you don't stop fighting we're not going on that mission tomorrow."

They continued to fight but a devilish look from Mira stopped them. Mira was such a sweetheart, but she could be really scary when she wanted to. When the fight ended Juvia was by Gray's side.

"Gray-sama, are you alright? Let Juvia take care of you!"

He mimed "help" to anyone who was interested in helping, but no one was. Everyone knew about Juvia's obsession of Gray, and even though they felt a little bad for him they didn't want to be on Juvias bad side or being accused of being her "Love Rival." Juvia was pretty harmless in her affection, but she too was a girl who could be scary if she was in the mood. Lucy had been Juvia's "Love Rival", but only in Juvia's head, and right now she was glad that she wasn't considered to be that anymore.

* * *

Lucy stayed at the guild almost all day. She sat down next to Levy and they started talking about books. Time pased by without them noticing and too soon is was time for Lucy to head home. She had to pack for her mission and she wanted to take a nice bath.

She unlocked her apartment door and walked inside. She walked into the kitchen to get some water but stopped in the middle of the doorway. Natsu was going through her refrigerator.

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and cleared her throat.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Natsu bumped his head on the refrigeration and slowly turned around when he heard her voice.

"Lucy, you're home," he said and gave her an innocent smile.

"What are you doing?"

"I was just trying to find something to eat."

"And why didn't you do that at your own house?"

"There's no food in my house."

"Get out," Lucy said and pointed in the direction of the apartment door.

"But Lucy, I'm hungry…"

"Get out! You have to find food somewhre else. I'll see you in the morning."

He sloushed his shoulders and walked past her to the apartment door. He looked at her over his shoulder before he left the apartment. Typical Natsu! Why was he doing this to her? She had a feeling he spent more time at her apartment then he did in his own house.

She packed the things she needed for th mission and then she took a nice bath. She brought her book to bed but soon feel asleep with the book lying on her stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter. I just haven't been motivated to write. I posted a new chapter to Friendly Neighbours: Becoming a family a while ago, and then I started writing this chapter. Now it's finally finished, here you have the second chapter of I love you.**

* * *

When Lucy woke up the next morning she almost expected Natsu to be sprawled out next to her. But he wasn't. She got dressed, had a steady breakfast and made sure she had packed everything she needed for the mission.

She left the apartment and started walking to the meeting ground. She saw Natsu and Happy after a while and he waved at her and gave her that charming grin of his. She couldn't help but smile and wave back. They walked the last bit together, Happy flying close behind.

A middle aged man was waiting for them. He had short well trimmed hair, jeans and a jacket. He looked at the mages with a snobbish expression.

"You're the Fairy Tail mages?" he asked sceptically.

"Yes, I'm Natsu and this is Lucy. And that's Happy"

"What is that?" the man asked. " A cat? He's got wings. And he's blue, why is he blue?"

"I'm an exeed", Happy said.

The man pursed his lips and turned his attention to Lucy. He looked her over and shook his head disaprovingly.

"Don't tell me you're gonna wear that."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Lusy asked and looked down at her favorite top and skirt.

"Yeah, I like Lucy's clothes," Natsu said and Lucy's cheeks felt a little warm.

"The top is too tight and you're showing too much cleavage. The skirt is also too tight, and too short, and with those boots you look like a whore."

He looked her straight in the eyes and Lucy felt so insulted she didn't know how to respond. Natsu tensed beside her and clenched his fists.

"You have no right talking to her like that," he said.

"What? You two are supposed to protect me, how is she going to protect me looking like that?"

"Lucy can take care of herself. She will protect you. And so will I."

"Fine. But you're really young. Are you sure you can handle this mission?"

"We've had a lot of successful missions," Lucy said.

"I'm sure you do. But I know what kids you're age are like."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nastu wanted to know.

"If you haven't noticed you're a boy and she's a girl," the man pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're just friends. She's… Lucy."

 _Thanks, Natsu. What's that supposed to mean?_ Lucy thought.

"We don't have time for this," the man decided. "We have to get going."

"When does the train leave?" Lucy asked.

"The train? We're not taking the train. I'm not paying for any transportation. I don't want anyone to know where I'm going, and I don't want anyone to see my money."

"So how are we getting there?"

"We're walking."

"Walking?"

Natsu was glad he didn't have to go by train, but Lucy wasn't sure she heard the man right. They were walking to Hargeon? Come on! The man was acting like a total idiot, and now he was telling them they were walking? She had thought this mission seemed too good to be true, and she was right. She regretted accepting it already.

"We better get going then," she said with a sigh.

The man, Mr Granger, took the lead with Natsu and Happy. Lucy followed a bit behind. Happy was walking next to Natsu and seemed a little down, Mr Granger had ruined his good mood. Natsu tried to talk to the man but it didn't seem to go very smoothly. Mr Granger kept interrupting him and Lucy could see that Natsu's posture became more and more tense. Lucy quickly walked up next to him and gave him a smile that was supposed to be encouraging, but she wasn't sure it was working.

Happy was tired of walking and spread his wings and flew next to Natsu. But not for long. Mr Granger quicly turned around and scolded him for having such a bad idea. He wasn't allowing the damn cat to fly, did he really think he could do that? They were not drawing any attention to themselves and a flying cat, a flying blue cat, was definitely going to draw attention. Happy looked sad and got back on the ground.

"I can carry you for a smile," Lucy said in a low voice and Happy smiled gratefully. Lucy lowered herself to the ground and lifted the exeed into her arms. She felt Natsu's hand on her shoulder and turned to look at him.

"I'll take over in a while," he said and patted Happy.

"That man is mean," Happy complained and hung his head.

"I know, but he's paying us a ridicilous amount of many to escort him to Hargeon and back. I won't let him talk to you like that again, I promise."

"How long is it gonna take to get to Hargeon?" Lucy wondered.

"I'm not sure," Natsu said. "I haven't walked there before."

Mr Granger said something again but Lucy wasn't listening. If only they had taken the train. Then this mission would be a lot shorter.

* * *

They set camp for the night. Natsu was starting to make a fire, but Mr Granger stopped him. He had the fire in his hand ready to set the twigs on the ground on fire, when Mr Granger ordered him to put it out. They were not having a camp fire, they did not want anyone to be able to find them.

"We're in the middle of nowhere!" Natsu exclaimed. "No one is going to find us! And if anyone would find us, Lucy and I will protect you, if it's necessary. We're surrounded by trees, no one will get near us without us noticing."

"We're still not having a camp fire."

"Fine, but don't blame me if you wake up tomorrow spooning a racoon or something," Natsu said and winked at Lucy who tried to hide her smile.

Mr Granger let out a heavy sigh and looked at them with a frown. He was not in a good mood.

"Fine. But one of you have to keep watch. Just in case. I won't fall asleep unless I know it's safe."

Natsu lit the fire and gave Happy a small blanket. He took the blanket and when Natsu sat down on the ground he curled up next to him and closed his eyes.

"Do you mind taking the first watch, Lucy?" Natsu asked and lay down.

"Sure," she said and leaned back against a tree trunk. She looked at Mr Granger who was lying down on a blanket, careful to not get any dirt on him, and then wrapped himself in another blanket. He looked very uneasy as he slowly closed his eyes. Natsu on the other hand was already snoring.

It didn't take more than a couple of minutes before Mr Granger jumped up to the sound of rustling leaves. He looked around but didn't find a threat, so he slowly lay down again. He looked at Lucy with pursed lps and a frown before he slowly fell back asleep.

Lucy sighed. This was gonna be a long night.

* * *

 **I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter, but I don't plan on keeping you waiting as long as for this one.**

 **This year is ending soon, and I still can't believe it. This year has gone by so fast. But it's been a good year and I hope 2017 will be good too. Happy New Year!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you Guest for telling me about the mistakes I made. I'm not a native english speaker and I will continue to make mistakes, but if you tell me about them I can correct them and learn from them. However, my biggest problem when it comes to misspelled words and missing letters/words is actually the fanfiction site. I always proofread before I upload a document, but when I go to edit there's always something missing or misspelled. Sometimes I have to edit and save several times before the document looks right. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me?**

* * *

Lucy was so tired when she woke up the next morning. The lack of sleep made her whole body feel heavy. Actually, she wasn't sure she had slept at all. Mr Granger had woken up every two hours, convinced someone was out to get him. He woke up screaming and fighting an invicible enemy. The first two times he had convinced them too, and Natsu had used his fire magic and Lucy had called out one of her celestial spirits. The rest of the night they had tried to convince him it was just in his imagination. Of course he wasn't listening to that.

Lucy yawned and stretched. She looked at Natsu who was leaning against a tree trunk. Some time during the night he had fallen asleep. His head had fallen to the side and his legs were stretched out in front of him. A light snore escaped his parted lips. Happy had curled up next to him and one of his arms were lying protectively over the blue cat. They were actually really cute. Lucy smiled.

Natsu stretched out his arms high in the air and yawned. Happy was still sleeping so he gently moved him to the ground next to him and stood up. Happy mumbled something about fish and continued sleeping.

"I can't believe his still sleeping," Lucy whispered and looked at Mr Granger.

"Me neither," Natsu said and walked up next to her. "Hungry?"

Lucy nodded and continued to look at Mr Granger, as if watching him would keep him asleep. Natsu was preparing a new fire when Mr Granger woke up with a jolt and another scream. Natsu redirected his fire to a tree behind Mr Granger and a bransch fell to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mr Granger scolded. "You're supposed to protect me, not attack me!" Mr Granger glared at him. "I knew letting teens take this mission was a mistake. You're lucky you missed."

Natsu looked at Lucy over his shoulder.

"I didn't miss," he whispered.

Lucy just sighed and shook her head.

"Alright, can we just calm down and have some breakfast?"

Mr Granger looked ready to take cover when Natsu started the fire, and Lucy glared at Natsu. He just looked at her and shrugged.

"Get back here so I can eat you," Happy said in his sleep. For some amazing reason he hadn't woken up yet.

Natsu woke him up and grilled a fish for him, which he ate sitting in Natsu's lap.

"What's the meeting about?" Lucy asked and gave Mr Granger his breakfast.

Mr Granger looked at her and snorted.

"Like I would tell you that."

"Is it a secret meeting? Is that why you wanted an escort?"

"You're here to protect me, that doesn't mean I have to tell you anything. The less you know the better."

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't need to know what the meeting was about, Lucy was just trying to be nice and have a conversation. Obviously Mr Granger didn't like it.

* * *

"What's with that guy?" Lucy asked when they were on the move again. Mr Granger was walking ahead of them and she was speaking so low only Natsu could hear her.

"I have no idea. He's really strange."

"Are you talking about me?" Mr Granger suddenly said and turned around to face them. "If you are, stop immidiately." Then he turned around again and continued walking. For some reason he was alway taking the lead, like he wasn't trusting them to go in the right direction.

Lucy let out a sigh and tried to stay positive, She was tired of him, but this was a mission that would pay a lot of money. It was just a mission. But she imagined giving him a "Lucy-kick" in his butt and thst made her feel a little better. Maybe they could knock him out. But then they would have to carry him, and he would probably wake up having a panic attack. And it was very unprofessional knocking out the one who hired you.

"You know, if we knock him out we would probably reach Hargeon faster," Natsu said in a low vocie leaning closer to her. "At least he would be quiet."

"I have never met anyone like him. But no matter how tempting it might be, we can't knock him out. He's the one paying us for this mission."

But it was really tempting. She glanced at Natsu and noticed the look on his face. He was definitely planning something.

"Natsu, you're not knocking him down," she warned him.

"You know, that tree over there looks like it might break, don't you think?"

"Natsu, you are not... Natsu!" Lucy hissed. "Natsu!"

But he had already aimed his fire. It hit the tree next to Mr Granger and a branch fell down knocking him out. He fell to the ground.

"I told you that tree looked like it was about to break," Natsu said.

Lucy sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. He did not just do that.

Natsu picked Mr Granger up and tossed him over his shoulder. Happy took the chance to spread his wings and flew next to his best friend. It felt good to fly again.

"Coming, Lucy?" Natsu asked and she picked up the pace."Do you hear that?" he asked after a while

"Hear what?"

"It's so quiet," Natsu said and grinned. Lucy couldn't help but smile back.

It was quiet, and the journey to Hargeon did go faster.


	4. Chapter 4

Lucy was relieved when they finally reached Hargeon. The first part of the mission was over and they all made it in one piece. More or less.

Mr Granger had woken up still hanging over Natsu's shoulder. And he was not happy about it. He had cursed and screamed, hitting his fist on his back and kicking him in his stomach. Natsu almost fell to the ground, but somehow he managed to stay on his feet. He dropped Mr Granger though. The man was so angry you could almost see steem coming out of his ears. He accused Natsu for violating his personal space and looked disgusted by the thought of Natsu touching him.

Natsu turned to Lucy and rolled his eyes. Still looking at her, he hit Mr Granger and knocked him down again.

"I like him so much better when he's not talking."

"You can't keep hitting him, Natsu!"

"You have to admit he's more likeable this way"

Lucy didn't say anything. She knew he was right, but still. Mr Granger was the one who hired them for this mission and she really wanted the reward. But as long as he was out cold they could talk and laugh and Happy could fly. Natsu threw the man over his other shoulder and they continued walking.

Lucy's feet hurt and all she wanted to do now was to take a bath. A nice, warm bath with a lot of bath foam.

* * *

Mr Granger payed for the hotel room in cash. He refused to use a credit card, he was not going to let anyone use that information to track him down. And he was not paying for more than one room.

"I am not letting the two of you share a room and leave me all alone. And I am not sharing a room a with you and let her have a room of her own just so you can sneek over there when I'm asleep. I know how teenagers work. You keep it in your pants and control your hormones"

Lucy and Natsu looked at each other. Was this man for real? What was going on inside his head? Like they would sneak off somewhere and make out or something.

Lucy felt her cheeks get warm and looked away. Natsu had spent several night in her bed, uninvited most of the time. But he had never tried anything inappropriate. He hadn't even tried to kiss her. Not even once. They were very close, but there was nothing romantic going on between them. They were just friends. Nothing more than friends.

Natsu's cheeks also had a hint of red. He liked Lucy's bed, it was more comfortsble than his own bed. And he liked sleeping next to her. She had kicked him out more times than he could count, but sometimes she let him stay. They were friends, but that was all they were. Friends. And now Mr Granger was standing here insinuating they were a couple of teenagers who couldn't control themselfs. This was a mission. Even if something was going on between them, which it wasn't, they weren't gping to sneak off in the middle of the night.

Mr Granger unlocked the door to their hotel room and they walked inside. Two beds were standing on the left side of the room, a small couch and a coffe table was in the right corner next to a big window. The bathroom was also to the right.

Lucy dropped her bag on the floor, kicked of her shoes and walked to the bathroom.

"I'm taking a bath," she said on the way.

She almost squeeled when she saw the bathroom. A big tub was to the left and cosy, fluffy towels was haning on the wall. A very cosy and fluffy bathrobe was hangingg there waiting for her as well. She picked up a bottle of bath foam and sighed with satisfaction. It smelled so good.

She filled the bathtub and poured lots of bath foam into the water. She turned the water off and lowered herself into the hot water. This was so nice!

She wasn't sure how long she was in the tub but she felt so relaxed she almost forgot about the mission. But she couldn't stay there forever. She got out from the tub and wrapped one of the cosy towels around her body and another one around her head. She reached for her clothes, but she could only find her old ones. She left her bag in the hallway. She had no clean clothes to put on.

She sighed and wrapped the towel tighter around her body. She opened the door just enough to look into the other room.

"Natsu, can you give me my bag?"

"Sure, but why don't you get it yourself?"

"Because..."

"Alright, where is it?"

"In the hallway."

Lucy saw him walk past the bathroom towards the hallway. Suddenly the door opened and she had to take a couple of steps back to not get hit by the door. She hadn't expected him to actually go into the bathroom with the bag, she had thought he would just give it to her from the other room.

It wasn't the first time he saw her in a towel. She had walked out of her bathroom wearing nothing but a towel and found him sitting on the couch or lying in her bed, uninvited as usual. It had happen a couple of times. But now he was staring at her, holding the bag infront of him in midair.

Lucy was embarrassed, and judging by the look on Natsu's face, so was he. He gave her the bag and left the bathroom. Lucy closed ther door and let out a deep breath. She quickly put on her clothes and hesitated for a brief moment before she opened the door. She was not going to make a big deal out of this.

"The bathroom's free," she said and Natsu walked into the bathroom without looking at her.

Happy had fallen asleep on one of the beds and Mr Granger glared at Lucy.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry I've kept you waiting for so long. I haven't abandoned this story, I just haven't been writing much lately. Hopefylly that will change now. I will try to update my other stories during the following couple of weeks. I have a lot of reading to catch up on too.**

* * *

Natsu was looking out through the window. It was dark outside and the others were asleep. It was in the middle of the night. Natsu was the only one awake because Mr Granger had refused to go to sleep unless someone was keeping watch. It didn't matter that they were inside a hotel room. The man was so paranoid!

When Natsu had shown Lucy the missions request he had bee sure it was an easy mission. Obviously it wasn't, and he had regretted it several times already. Now he just wanted the mission to be over.

He heard Lucy say something in her sleep and turned away from the window. She tossed in her sleep. He could tell she was dreaming something. She lifted her hand and let it fall down on the bed again.

"Open Gate of the Lion," she said and turned her back on Natsu. "No Loki, we are not doing that."

Natsu wondered what she was dreaming. And he felt a disturbing feeling, a hint of... jealousy? He had no reason to be jealous, especially not of Loki. He flirted and hit on her from time to time, but Lucy always turned him down. Not that Natsu cared.

A sudden scream made him turn around, the fire ready in his hand.

Mr Granger sat in his bed, glaring at him and breathing heavily.

"Don't just stand there, protect me!"

Natsu looked around and the fire in his hand faded.

"There is nothing to protect you from," he said.

Mr Granger opened his mouth to say something but Lucy interrupted him.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Natsu looked ar her briefly before turning his gaze back to Mr Granger. Lucy was wearing a tanktop and the covers were down by her waist. He didn't want to see that right now, and he didn't like the way Mr Granger was looking at her.

"There are no enemies in here," Natsu said and tried to remain calm. "No one is out to get you."

"You don't know that. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not there."

"You're just imagining things."

"We are not discussing this right now," Lucy decided. "It's the middle of the night and we all need to sleep. Natsu too. We're in a hotel room, you are safe, so just sleep!"

"Fine! But if something happens to me I'm gonna make sure you guys never get a mission again!"

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other. They were both to tired to wonder how he was going to do that. They watched Mr Granger lie down and slowly fall back to sleep.

Lucy lay down in her own bed and wrapped the covers around her. Natsu lay down on the couch and shortly after a very tired Happy curled up next to him. Within seconds they were all sleeping.

* * *

When Lucy woke up the next morning it was because she fell off the bed. Sometime during the night Natsu had come to her bed, and now his arms and legs were in every direction and he seemes to have kicked her off the bed.

Lucy crawled back in the bed and glared at him. Happy was sleeping on the pillow above his head and snored softly. They both looked really cute.

A noise from the other bed made her look up. Mr Granger was about to wake up and Natsu was in her bed. That was not good. She remembered what Mr Granger had said before, he would not like thiz.

Lucy sighed and tried to wake Natsu up, but it didn't work. So she did what Natsu had done to her. She pushed him off the bed. She looked down at him. His eyes were still closed. Was he really still sleeping? Suddenly he grabbed her wrist and pulles her down. She fell on top of him.

"Natsu!"

But he just grinned and she tried her best not to smile back.

"I knew it! I knew you wouldn't be able to keep your handas off each other!"

Both Natsu and Lucy looked up at Mr Granger who was sitting up in his bed glaring at them. They cleared their throats and awkwardly got up from the floor. It was nothing funny about it anymore.

"It's not what you think," Lucy began but Mr Granger didn't want to listen.

"I know what saw. You two wanted a quicky before I woke up, on the floor!"

He looked disgusted.

"No, no, no, no. It's not like that," Lucy tried to explain. "I just pushed him off the bed to wake him up and..."

"And why was he in your bed?" Mr Grangef asked and raised his eyebrows. His face was reddening and he looked even more disapproving than usual.

"Sleeping," Natsu said. "I was just sleeping. I do that sometimes, it's..."

"So you're trying to tell me it's nothing? You can't keep your hands to yourselves and that's nothing?! Teenagers! I'm never hiring teenagers again."

"This isn't goinc well is it?" Natsu said to Lucy and looked at her.

She shook her head.

"Not at all." She took a deep breath. "Can we just forget about this? You have a meeting to prepare for, and I'm gonna take shower before breakfast."

She didn't wait for an answer, She just grabbed her clothes and quickly closed the bathroom door behind her. She turned the water on and got into the shower. She could still see Natsu's grin before her eyes. She had been close to him like that before, and he had smiled at her like that before, but this time her heart had skipped a beat. What did that mean? And why had he been in her bed when he knew what Mr Granger thought?

She finished her shower and put her clothes on. It was surprisingly quiet when she came back to the other room. Mr Granger and Natsu were ignoring each other and Happy looked like he didn't understand what was going on. At least no one was fighting.

* * *

The breakfast was awkward. Neither of them said anything more than necessary, not even Mr Granger. Happy still looked like he didn't understand anything.

After breakfast it was finally time for Mr Granger's meeting. He had a hard time deciding if he wanted Natsu and Lucy in the meeting room with him or if they should stay outside. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, but he also didn't want to be unprotected or leave them unsupervised. Finally he decided that they were going to wait outside the meeting room.

"But don't try anything!" he warned them. "If you do, and something happens to me..."

"Nothing is going to happen, we promise," Lucy assured him.

He glared at them, not sure if he could trust them, and then entered the meeting room, closing the door behind him.

Natsu and Lucy leaned against the wall on opposite sides of the door. Normally they would talk and make jokes, but not this time. They glansed at each other, but they barely said anything. Maybe they didn't have anything to say, or maybe something had happened between them?


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as the meeting was over, Mr Granger informed Natsu and Lucy that they were going back to Magnolia. He didn't want to stay in Hargeon any longer. They went back to the hotel room where Happy was waiting, packed their bags and checked out from the hotel.

As they started walking, Natsu, Happy and Lucy had a strong feeling of déjà vu. Mr Granger complained about Lucy's clothes, Happy wasn't allowed to fly. Every time Mr Granger opened his mouth he complained about something. Happy was in tears and Lucy imagined her ears falling off. She was so sick of this. She couldn't wait to get home.

Happy walked for a while and then Natsu carried him. Lucy had to stop him from knocking Mr Granger out again. Natsu's eyes got darker and darker everytime Mr Granger said something about Happy or Lucy, and Lucy saw a tiny flame covering his finger tips. But he managed to stay calm somehow.

At least they were on their way home. When they came back to Magnolia they didn't have to deal with this , ever again. She just wanted to get paid for the mission and then forget this ever happened.

Natsu accidentally brushed his arm against Lucy's and brought her out from her thoughts. She glanced at him, but he looked away from her, his eyes set on Mr Granger's back. Then he glanced at Lucy, noticing she was looking at him and looked down at the exeed in his arms. Happy had fallen asleep a while ago and was probably dreaming about fish.

"I can carry him for a while, if you want," Lucy offered.

Natsu thought about it for a moment and nodded. He handed her the sleeping cat and their skin met when Lucy reached for him. Natsu didn't let go right away. They had touched countless times before, but something was different now. Thanks to Mr Granger it felt awkward, and they both looked at him to see if he noticed. Luckily he didm't.

Lucy looked at Happy and held him closer. He smiled in his sleep.

"You love..." he mumled.

She glared at him, but he continued to sleep. Happy had teased her so many times . Of course she loved Natsu, he was her best friend. Her soulmate. Maybe... no.

They decided to stop for the night. Natsu went looking for some twigs to start a fire with and Lucy prepared the food. Mr Granger refused to help. Lucy had been surprised he had the energy to walk such a long distance, but now it was like the energy had fallen off of him. He sat down on a blanket, watching them work and complained they didn't finish faster.

Lucy took a deep breath to calm herself down. Pouring the stew over his head was too tempting. They ate in silence, a miracle, but Mr Granger kept them under observation. He watched them as they sat next to each other with Happy in the middle. The exeed was in his own little world and unaware of the glares around him.

When it was time to sleep it was the same procedure as prevous nights. Mr Granger refused to fall asleep unless someone was keeping watch, and when he finally had fallen asleep he woke up every two hours or so. Lucy missed her bed and her apartment so much she almost wanted to cry. This will be over soon, she told herself. This will be over soon.

* * *

Every time Lucy had finally fallen back asleep she woke up because of Mr Granger. She wasn't sure how much she actually slept, but it had to be more than the five minutes it felt like. She turned from her back to her side just in time to see Mr Granger get knocked out by a sleeping Natsu. Mr Granger was about to wake up with his usual scream, but Natsu turned around in his sleep and threw out his arm.

"Take that back, Gray! You wanna fight?!" Natsu growled as he hit Mr Granger in his face.

Mr Granger was furious. He sat up, cursing worse than they had ever heard him curse before, and pushed Natsu away.

"You useless brat! I can't believe you did that, again! I will never hire you, or your guild ever again! Never!"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Natsu tried to apologize, but Mr Granger didn't care. He was so angry he got up and started walking, leaving Natsu and Lucy staring after him. A moment later they packed their stuff and went after Mr Granger. Happy was flying low behind Natsu to keep up.

"Hey, wait for us," Natsu called out.

Mr Granger didn't slow down or turn around.

"No. I'm sick of this! You guys are awful!"

"We're doing the best we can," Natsu said

"This is the best you can do? Then I really don't want to know what your worst is like."

"You aren't exactly making things easy."

Mr Granger opened his mouth to respond, but he was so angry not a word came out. He was so angry he even forgot to be paranoid.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for your favorites, follows and reviews. It means a lot to me. As you can see this story is coming to an end. The next chapter might be the last one.**


	7. Chapter 7

**We've reached the end of this story. This is the last chapter, and it's like the oneshot I love you, Lucy, but a longer, developed version. If you have read the oneshot, you know how this story ends. Thank you so much for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing.**

* * *

"Look, Natsu! It's Magnolia! We're almost home!"

Lucy pointed towards the town and smiled. Knowing this mission was almost over filled her with joy. It was like they were finally seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Natsu returned the smilenand patted Happy who was riding on his shoulders, half asleep.

"Look, buddy! We're almost home."

Happy straightened, wide awake and in a much happier mood.

"I can't wait to see Carla. I wonder if she have missed me."

Natsu and Lucy exchanged a look. They had only been gone for a couple of days, and since Carla didn't seem to share Happy's infatuation, the possibility of her missing him was very slim. But they didn't say anything, they didn't want to ruin his good mood.

Mr Granger was still walkimg in front of them, still as grumpy as ever. He had barely said a word since they woke up this morning, but when he did it was to complaim, and he shot them disapproving glares over his shoulder every now and then.

They finally crossed the town border and Happy didn't care about Mr Granger anymore. He spread his wings and flew towards the guild hall, excited to see Carla. Mr Granger, Natsu and Lucy continued walking through the town.

"I am very tempted to not pay you for this mission," Mr Granger said when they stopped at the same spot where they first met."Your behaviour has been terrible..."

"Wait, our behaviour?" Natsu interrupted.

"But, you got me back safe," Mr Granger continued, ignoring Natsu, "though not unharmed. I will never hire you, or your guild again. I never want to see you again!"

He glared at them and handed them the money. He gave them one last disapproving glare and then he quickly turned around and walked away. Natsu and Lucy watched him walk away and then they turned to each other.

"I can't believe this is finally over," Lucy said with relief and hugged Natsu.

"I could never have done it without you, Lucy. I had no idea it would be like this."

"It's alright. We made it."

The hug lasted a little too long, but Lucy didn't want to let him go. When they parted, they were both a bit flustered.

"Let's go back to the guild," Natsu said.

Lucy nodded. As they walked side by side, Lucy felt the brush of his fingertips against hers. She glanced at their hands and then at him, but he kept looking in front of him. Maybe he just walked too close by accident, it probably didn't mean anything more than that. But she wouldn't mind walking side by side with him holding his hand.

They reach the guild hall and Natsu opened the door. They both stood in the doorway looking at the familiar faces acting like they always did. Everything was back to normal. They walked inside.

"Lucy, your back!" Levy said and smiled. She was sitting at a table together with Erza and Cana

"Yes, finally," Lucy said and sat down next to Levy.

"How was the mission?"

"Terrible," Lucy said and leaned over the table, hiding her face in her folded arms.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Worse," Lucy said and sat up. She told them about Mr Granger and the things that happened on the journey to Hargeon and back.

"I have never met someone like him before. He complained about everything and he was so condescending. And he kept insinuating that Natsu and I would sneak off and... Like we couldn't keep our hands off each other."

"I bet you wouldn't mind having Natsu's hands all over you," Cana said and drank from her barrel with alcohol.

"What?" Lucy's cheeks burned and she quickly looked around, making sure no one had heard her. Her gaze landed on Natsu who was sitting at a table with Gray anf Gajeel. He looked up, and when their eyes met he quickly looked away. Lucy turned back to the girls.

"Come on, everybode knows how close you and Natsu are," Cana said and drank some more.

"Yeah, but not like that.."

"But you want to."

Lucy didn't answer, She glanced over her shoulder again. Natsu was bickering with Gajeel and Gray, his face a little red. She wondered what they were talking about.

* * *

"Thanks, Mira," Natsu said and started eating as soon as the plate was set on the table. He was so hungry.

"So how was the mission?" Gray asked. "It's ridicilous how much money you got for something so easy."

"It definitely wasn't easy," Natsu assured them and told them about Mr Granger and the things that had happened.

"And he kept insinuating that we would sneak off, unable to keep our hands off each other." Natsu sighed and shook his head.

"So you're telling me you and Blondie aren't banging?" Gajeel said and looked at him with one of his pierced eyebrows raised.

"What, no!"

He looked up and noticed Lucy was looking at him. He quickly loked away, and Gajeel elbowed him in the side.

"Come on, everybody know how close you are. I'm not the only one who thinks you are."

"Shut up, Metalface!"

He tried to ignore him, but then Gray joined in. Natsu did his best not to fall in their trap, but it was Lucy they were talking about. Everything he said, they turned against him. Usually he never backed down on a fight, but he wasn't in the mood this time. He finished his meal, and left the guild hall.

* * *

Lucy finished the meal Mira had given her and said goodbye to her friends. She noticed Natsu had already left. She was surprised he hadn't started any fights, especially since she had seen Gajeel and Gray bickering with him. They were always involved in some kind of fight.

she unlocked the door to her apartment and walked inside. She dropped her bag on the floor, and headed straight to the bathroom. She filled the tub and lowered herself into the hot water. It was so relaxing. She spent an hour in the bath. Then she got up and put on some comfy clothes, intending to spend the rest of the day on the couch watching tv.

When she reached the living room area she noticed Natsu. He was stretched out on the couch sleeping, with his head resting on one of the pillows and his arm hanging off the couch, his hand almost reached the floor. Lucy sighed. She was too tired to kick him out. How did he get in? And why hadn't she heard him? She

watched him for a while, not sure what to do.

"I love you, Lucy," Natsu breathed.

Lucy froze and her heart skipped a beat. Was he still sleeping? Did he know she was there? It had taken so long for her to realize what she felt for Natsu. Did he know? Did he feel the same? Was it just something he said to see how she reacted?

"Natsu?"

No answer. Maybe he was still sleeping. She slowly walked towards the couch and kneeled in front of it. He was really cute when he was sleeping. A lock of hair had fallen down to his eye, did she dare remove it? She slowly reached out her hand, and before she knew it Natsu pulled her closer and kissed her. He kissed her, and he was really good at it. Lucy gave in. She cupped his cheek and kissed him back.

"What are you doing, Lucy?" Natsu said and pulled away, the colour of his skin matched the colour of his hair.

"What - what do you mean what am I doing? What are you doing?" Lucy said and felt the blush spread across her face.

"Well, I was asleep, and when I woke up you were kissing me."

"I was not! And you started it!"

Lucy stood up and crossed her arms while turning away from him.

"Did you mean it?" she asked after a moment of silence and glanced at him.

"Did I mean what?"

"That thing you said."

"What did I say?" Natsu asked and Lucy could hear the smile in his voice.

"That thing you said. Don't make me say it. You know what you said."

"I was asleep, remember?"

She still turned away from him. Neither of them said anything, but they could both feel the tension.

"Lucy."

His voice was so close. He carefully slipped his arms around her from behind. Lucy couldn't move. They had hugged before, but this was completely different.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Maybe Mr Granger was right about one thing," Natsu said close to her ear. He slowly turned her around and looked at her in a way he had never looked at her before.

"Lucy," he murmured against her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. It was warm and nice. Natsu slowly walked backwards to the couch, carefully pulling her with him. He sat down and she sat down on his lap. They gave each other a shy smile. Lucy cupped his cheeks and kissed him. Then she leaned her forehead against his.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

 _I love you too._

"Never mind. I can tell you later."

Natsu smiled and Lucy's heart melted. She smiled back and they met in another kiss


End file.
